Strong graduate outcomes with earnings well above peer institutions. Robust earnings growth over time.
What graduates earn 10 years after enrollment.
Annual salary at 10 years
Lower quartile earnings
Upper quartile earnings
How graduate earnings grow in the decade after enrollment.
Earnings growth at University of Washington demonstrates steady progression from early to mid-career stages. Graduates earn $62,979 six years after enrollment, advancing to $70,968 at eight years and reaching $78,466 by the ten-year mark.
How outcomes compare to similar institutions.
Strong relative performance — graduates earn notably more than peers at comparable institutions.
Financial justification for the investment.
Excellent affordability. Median debt of $14,615 is well under annual earnings, enabling comfortable repayment.
University of Washington graduates carry median debt of $14,615, significantly below the peer median of $20,000 and ranking in the 86.0th percentile nationally for low debt levels. Debt ranges from $6,037 at the 25th percentile to $21,566 at the 75th percentile, indicating most students graduate with manageable debt burdens.
University of Washington achieves top-tier return performance, ranking at the 91.9th percentile nationally with excellent outcomes across key return metrics. Graduates earn $10,214 beyond expectations relative to similar students and institutions, placing the university in the 86.0th percentile for value-added earnings nationally.
Approximately 26.0% of University of Washington graduates continue to graduate or professional study, based on program mix analysis with high confiden...
Program mix explains much of the earnings story.
Computer Science drives the strongest earnings outcomes with median earnings of $144,297, ranking #15 nationally and demonstrating the institution's strength in high-demand technical fields. Artificial Intelligence produces $102,611 median earnings with strong national recognition, while Banking and Financial Support Services reaches $94,385 with excellent value performance.
These top-earning programs contrast with liberal arts and sciences programs like Behavioral Neuroscience ($34,715) and Human Biology ($31,488), which often emphasize graduate school preparation over immediate earnings. The program diversity enables different career pathways while maintaining overall institutional return performance through strong outcomes in high-earning technical and business fields.
See which programs drive the strongest earnings and career trajectories
Earnings distribution shows meaningful variation reflecting diverse career paths and program outcomes. The spread from $50,171 at the 25th percentile to $115,782 at the 75th percentile creates a 2.3:1 ratio between top and bottom quartiles.
